The Darkest Hour/Chapter 28
Chapter description :As Firestar approaches Fourtrees, the first faint streaks of dawn were appearing. His heart swells with pride as he looks at all the warriors behind, his gaze flicking to each one. Pain suddenly tears at his heart as he realizes what they all mean to him and what fearful danger they are about to face. He raises his voice so that everyone can hear him, telling them that whatever happens, no leader has ever had better warriors than them. Graystripe comments back, saying that there is never a leader like him. Firestar's throat is too choked to speak. :Crossing the stream, he hears a whisper of movement from the direction of the river and peeks down the slope to see the cats of RiverClan and ShadowClan slipping silently toward the meeting place. He sees Blackfoot and understands that though they might have an alliance, they would never be friends. Firestar observes warriors from other clans interacting amongst themselves. They continued on to the Fourtrees with Firestar and Leopardstar leading them. :When the clans approached the Fourtrees, Firestar sent Mousefur and Graystripe up to scout ahead. Graystripe came back with Tallstar, Barley, and Ravenpaw, who all of them announced their support with the clans. When asked where BloodClan was, Tallstar responds, saying that they are somewhere in ShadowClan territory. Firestar feels some admiration for him, but when he learns that he is also afraid, he admires him even more. :Just as he sees Mousefur running back toward LionClan, BloodClan appears. Scourge calls out to them, demanding that they show themselves. After being urged on by Leopardstar and Tallstar, Firestar continues and leads the clans into the Fourtrees. At the base of the Great Rock, Scourge is sitting, and he asks them if they would leave or fight against them. Firestar offers that instead of fighting, the BloodClan cats can leave in peace. When it is clear that BloodClan will not leave, he looks at the aggressive cats and remembers how Tigerstar died. He makes one last effort by claiming the forest belongs to the clans by the will of StarClan, but Scourge only calls it a tale and calls for BloodClan to attack. :Firestar does the same, and the battle is begun. A tabby tom fights him, and all of the cats are in the clearing, being led by the clan leaders and fighting their opponents. When Firestar is able to get the tom away, he sees that Scourge is no longer sitting near the Great Rock. His Clanmates are all fighting against Bloodclan warriors. He fights off one tom who was fighting against Longtail. Once the tom is driven away, Cinderpelt helps Longtail away from the fighting to heal his wounds. Brightheart and Cloudtail cooperate against an enemy, confusing and defeating him. Barley and Ravenpaw fight against two toms, one of which recognizes Barley and calls him a coward for leaving. He responds, saying that he was brave for leaving and that his opponent shouldn't be part of BloodClan, and he made them retreat. Morningflower chanted out the name of her dead son as she fought. :Firestar looks for Scourge , knowing that if he killed him, the battle would be won. He reflects on how instead of having to fight against Tigerstar, he has to fight against his murderer. A she-cat fights against him, but he rakes his claws against her belly and she retreats. Exhausted, he wonders how much longer the battle had to go on. He fights against another she-cat, who he defeats, and then discovers Darkstripe. Darkstripe was fighting with BloodClan, even though he did not have any particular loyalties, but expressed his desire to kill Firestar. They fought and he almost kills Firestar, but Graystripe pushed him off. He slashes Darkstripe's throat open, killing him. Firestar and his friend touch noses, but Graystripe notices something behind him. :Bone, the BloodClan deputy, is seen wounding another cat, who was revealed to be Whitestorm. Graystripe and Firestar race toward him. Ashpaw and Bramblepaw push Bone off Whitestorm, distracting him. As his dying word, Whitestorm nominates Graystripe to be the next deputy after him and passes away. Firestar appoints Graystripe to be the next deputy, and he gets yowls of agreement from other warriors. :When Firestar turned to fight against Bone, he saw that several apprentices rushed forward and killed him. Jaggedtooth appeared and hauled Bramblepaw off Bone, but when the apprentices turned their attention to him, he retreat. Firestar observed the battle, wondering who would win. Though some powerful cats in BloodClan might have died, so had some LionClan cats. Some cats were being taken out of battle so that their wounds could be treated. He knew that the only way to win the battle would be if Scourge was killed. :Finding Scourge, he discovers him fighting against Onewhisker. Firestar attacks Scourge, who wounds him on his shoulder. Firestar, after becoming weaker from the injury, has Scourge slip away from him and deliver a killing strike. Firestar gets knocked down, and his consciousness fades to black. Characters Major }} Minor *Scourge *Whitestorm *Darkstripe }} Mentioned *Brackenfur *Thornclaw *Longtail *Frostfur *Mousefur *Dustpelt *Ashpaw *Bramblepaw *Cloudtail *Brightheart *Bluestar *Blackfoot *Boulder *Tawnypaw *Mistyfoot *Shadepelt *Runningnose *Mudfur *Cinderpelt *Leopardstar *Tallstar *Barley *Ravenpaw *Tigerstar *Willowpelt *Onewhisker *Featherpaw *Stormpaw *Morningflower *Gorsepaw *Darkstripe *Bone *Jaggedtooth *Tornear *Fernpaw }} Important Events *Whitestorm, ThunderClan's deputy is killed by Bone. Graystripe is his successor. *Firestar loses his first life as a leader after Scourge kills him. Ceremonies Notes and references de:Stunde der Finsternis/Kapitel 28nl:Vuurproef/Hoofdstuk 28 Category:The Prophecies Begin arc Category:Chapter subpages Category:The Darkest Hour